Amalgamation situation: Council to consider Palerang merger

AN independent review into local government in New South Wales has recommended a
merger between Queanbeyan and Palerang Councils by 2017.

The review panel's
final report was released by NSW local government minister Don Page on
Wednesday, and recommended the Queanbeyan-Palerang merger based on efficiencies
to be derived from the "close functional interrelationships" between the
adjoining Councils.

Queanbeyan Councillors will attend a workshop next month
to discuss the recommendation.

Mayor Tim Overall said an official response
was still to be discussed by Councillors, but said his personal view was that
local government reform was sorely needed.

"I agree with the very strong
statement in the panel's report that in its present form, local government is
not sustainable and fit for purpose much longer," Cr Overall said.

"And
personally in regards to amalgamations, I urge the NSW Government to reconsider
its position in regard to no forced amalgamations as it heads towards the March
2015 State elections.

"If there are to be amalgamations, the NSW Government
should really bite the bullet and effect the changes prior to the September 2016
local government elections," he said.

And Mayor Overall said there were some
efficiencies to be gained in a Queanbeyan-Palerang merger if it was to go
ahead.

"If you consider Queanbeyan and Palerang in one way as a single
community of interest in a lot of respects, there's already shared library
services.

"And Palerang being a larger LGA geographically has a road and
engineering plant which Queanbeyan Council doesn't have ... and we regularly
contract in Palerang Council to undertake road and engineering works in
Queanbeyan," he said.

However Palerang mayor Pete Harrison said he
interpreted the report as suggesting a merger was now less likely to go ahead
than at previous stages of the review.

He said the fact Palerang had posted a
'moderate' financial sustainability rating in a recent TCorp audit of councils
showed Palerang could now stand alone financially.

"I don't see that
[amalgamation discussion] as any different to what's been there before, except
that the recommendation has softened somewhat because it's listed in there that
it's not to be considered until 2017. Previously it had been suggested that
decision be made in 2015," he said.

"As I see it, there's opportunity for us
to develop the case we've put to the independent panel, and that's while
Palerang did have a difficult start, we've overcome a lot of our
problems.

"Financially Palerang is now considered to be in a moderate
condition, which is reasonable. So there really isn't the same justification for
amalgamation as there was when people were thinking about what Palerang looked
like six or seven years ago," he said.

There are 152 councils across NSW, and
the sector spends around $10 billion each year, and employs some 50,000
people

Local Government NSW, the peak body for the state's councils, has
called on the government to extend its March 7 consultation deadline for the
report until the end of April.

President of LGNSW, Cr Keith Rhoades, said the
vast majority of NSW councils do not have their first council meeting for the
year until February, leaving little time for them to properly respond to the
report.